Poster #25 - Daughters’ Self-Reported Executive Function Difficulties Differ by Familial Risk for Depression

• In Event: Poster Session 03

Abstract

Introduction: Depression development is protracted over the prenatal, childhood, and early adolescent course, with multifactorial risk mechanisms occurring at various time points prior to depression onset in later adolescence (Paus et al., 2008). Once developed, Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is often recurrent and/or chronic illness extending across the lifetime associated with great personal and societal costs (Thapar et al., 2012; Fombonne et al., 2001). Moreover, several executive functions (EFs), or the cognitive skills and abilities to plan, problem-solve, and execute pertinent tasks, are weaker in youth and adults with active or remitted MDD (Snyder, 2013; Rock et al., 2014). Depression and EFs are at least partially heritable, although mechanisms are still debated (Kerestes et al., 2014). It is possible that some of the heritability of depression is due to shared weaknesses in EFs (regardless of mechanism). However, findings are currently mixed as to whether weaker EFs are present prior to depression onset and thereby represent a risk marker for depression and little work has examined the familial-relatedness of EFs in these youth (e.g., Belleau et al., 2013; Hsu et al., 2014).

Methods: This multisite project leverages heightened risk for biological daughters of mothers with recurrent MDD (rMDD, n=39; HR, n=44) to assess whether these daughters have familially-related weaker self-reported EFs compared to low-risk daughters (LR, n=59) of mothers with no history of psychopathology (n=53). Following semi-structured clinical interviews with trained masters-level clinicians (KSADS-5 or SCID-5) to confirm no psychopathology in daughters and mothers’ diagnostic history, all participants completed symptom assessments and questionnaires. Mothers completed the adult version of the self-report Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF) and daughters completed the child self-report version of the BRIEF to assess subjective weaknesses in EFs. Hierarchical linear mixed effect models examined the linear relationships between the 8 EF subscales reported by daughters while controlling for random intercepts of subject and family. Additive effects of risk group, mother’s self-reported overall EF, and daughters’ current depressive symptoms were examined. We hypothesized HR daughters would report greater daily EF difficulties, specifically in inhibition, shifting, and emotional control, that these group-level differences would be partially accounted for by mother’s report of her own EF difficulties, and these differences would be independent of current depressive symptoms.

Results: Compared to LR daughters, HR daughters endorsed greater problems with emotional control and working memory. Addition of mother’s overall EF explained additional variance for emotional control only. Furthermore, daughters’ depressive symptoms explained greater variance than mother’s overall EF problems across all EF subscales. Greater depressive symptoms were associated with more difficulties in emotional control and fewer difficulties in all other EF subscales.

Conclusions: Together, these results indicate a significant familially-related weakness specifically in emotional control associated with development of depressive symptoms in female youth. In addition, results indicate a significant risk group-level difference in working memory difficulties unrelated to mother’s EF skills. Longitudinal within-subject assessments (both self-reported and performance-based) are needed to better clarify the relationship between developing depressive symptoms and daily EF difficulties in youth.

Authors

• Katie Bessette, University of California - Los Angeles
  Presenting Author

• Alexander Demos

• Brian Farstead, Brigham Young University

• Katie L. Burkhouse, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, The Ohio State University

• Scott Langenecker, University of Utah